CU`s super freshman confident heading into first action against KU

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Alec Burks is tired of watching the Colorado-Kansas game, even though he has had a pretty good seat for the past two meetings.

A year ago Burks made the short drive here from his hometown to watch CU -- the program he verbally committed to before his dazzling senior season at Grandview (Mo.) High School -- play KU at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Buffs erased a 16-point deficit and silenced the Rock-Chalk chant until the eventual Big 12 champion Jayhawks finally exhaled and pulled out a 66-61 victory.

"I was there watching my future teammates fight to get a win," Burks recalled. "It was great to see."

On Feb. 3, despite being cleared by the CU medical staff, Burks was held out of the lineup by coach Jeff Bzdelik to give his sprained left knee some extra time to heal.

The Big 12`s top freshman scorer watched helplessly from the end of the bench as the Buffs lost a 72-66 nail-biter in overtime to the nation`s No. 1 team at the Coors Events Center.

"You never know," Burks said when asked if the results would have been different had he played. "But I would have liked our chances."

Burks will finally go from the ranks of innocent bystander to perhaps the key player to watch today as CU looks to end a 34-game Big 12 road losing streak and snap the nation`s longesthome-court winning streak with a rare victory over the mighty Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse (2 p.m., Altitude).

"We have a lot of confidence," Burks said. "My teammates played them close last year and this year.

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And I didn`t even play in the first game, so I feel like I can help my teammates out and we can get a win."

It would certainly qualify as a historic victory considering:

The Buffs` last Big 12 road win was on January, 21, 2006, at Oklahoma State (an 80-78 overtime win in Stillwater under Ricardo Patton).

The Buffs` last win in Lawrence was a 75-74 victory on Feb. 10, 1983 (Burks wasn`t even born until 1991).

The Jayhawks are 59-7 all-time against CU on their home court. Overall, KU has won 14 consecutive meetings in the series and 41 of the previous 42 meetings.

The Jayhawks have won 56 consecutive games at Allen Fieldhouse. KU is 109-6 at home under Bill Self.

"It`s going to be tough. I don`t even know how many games they`ve won at their place in a row," Nate Tomlinson said. "We just need to do the same things we did against Oklahoma -- rebound, not turn the ball over, make some shots here and there, and we`ll have a chance."

The Buffs (12-13, 3-8) are coming off a 77-67 victory over Oklahoma in which four different players scored in double figures and Dwight Thorne added nine points off the bench.

CU will need that type of balance, and perhaps a lackluster effort by the top-ranked Jayhawks (25-1, 11-0), to pull off an upset for the ages.

"It would be a big win to take down the No. 1 team," said Burks, who will get a chance to play in front of his mom today. "A huge confidence boost."

CU has played well against some good competition this year with single-digit losses to ranked teams such as Gonzaga, Kansas State and Texas A&M, in addition to the home loss to KU and a win over Baylor.

However, the Buffs are still looking for their first conference road win under Jeff Bzdelik, who is 0-21 in Big 12 road games at CU.

"Young players have to learn how to win," Bzdelik said. "We`ve put ourselves in position many times to win but we haven`t been able to close it out."

This time, if the visitors can somehow stay in the game until crunch time again, CU will have a pretty clutch and confident player on the court in Burks.

"Crowds don`t really bother me. Maybe it bothers some other guys, but that`s just me," Burks said when asked about dealing with the atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse. "I`m not really a believer in pressure. I feel like if we block all that out and do our job we`ll get a win."

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